What It Really Means If Your Pee Smells Funny

The color and the smell of your pee can tell a lot about your health. Although naturally urine carries a distinctive odor, if it gets too strong and is accompanied with a feeling of sickness, you may have an underlying health issue, according to WebMD. Normal pee looks pale yellow or white and won't be too smelly. But if it has a cloudy, bloody, green, grey, or any other unique color, along with a funny smell, you might want to visit a doctor for examination. The lighter the urine color, the better. You might notice a strong smell if the pee is darker in color, as it would be carrying more waste and less water, explains WebMD.

Additionally, it is also possible that you notice a dark yellow and smelly pee first thing in the morning, per Mayo Clinic. This happens because of low water content in the body after a long night's rest. If you live in a particularly hot region, you might face this issue often. Also, if you lead a physically active life and do lots of exercises, you might often have a smelly pee because of dehydration.

Diabetics often have a sweet-smelling pee, according to Medical News Today. It might indicate dangerously high sugar content or glucose in the body. In addition to this, you might experience other high blood sugar symptoms such as fatigue, severe dehydration, less hunger pangs, and even sudden loss of weight. Other times, pee with a strong smell could be a sign of a urinary tract infection (UTI), warns Cleveland Clinic. In such cases, the urine might have a distinct ammonia-like smell. It means that you have an infection in the bladder, kidneys, uterus, or urethra. If you have a UTI, you might also feel the need to pee more frequently.

Your urine might also smell funny because of something you ate. According to WebMD, eating too much of certain foods like cabbage, asparagus, onions, or eggs can cause your urine to smell rotten. That's because they are packed with sulfur compounds, known to trigger intestinal issues. In some cases, it is possible that your urine would smell like popcorn because of high amounts of ketones (via Medical News Today). This usually happens when your body has limited sugar or glucose.